Mew
by Dragonfree
Summary: A Pokémon Collector comes across Mew when traveling through a jungle...


**Mew**

My palm was sweating as my hand grasped the metallic ball. The Legendary Pokémon, Mew, sleeping peacefully in a bubble right here, in the exact jungle I was journeying through.

I would have to be careful now; if Mew woke up a moment too soon, it might teleport away and all would be ruined. After a moment of thought, I dropped the Pokéball I was holding gently so that it fell to the ground. Popping open upon the impact, the ball released a beam of red light which materialized into my Umbreon, Wraith.

"This is Mew," I whispered to my starter, pointing at the innocent-looking pink creature inside the floating bubble. "It's..."

I hesitated. I wasn't sure if Wraith would like the idea of fighting a Legendary Pokémon, and judging from the way he looked at Mew, he didn't know what it was. I smiled slightly. The creature inside the bubble was like his exact opposite. While he had a catlike body but a more rabbit-like head, Mew had a rabbit-like body but a catlike head. His tail was thick and pointed; Mew's was thin and ended in an oval. His body was black with golden, ring-like markings, but Mew's was a very light pink all over.

"It's very rare," I finished my earlier sentence. "I want to catch it, but it can teleport, so I need you to use Mean Look."

Wraith nodded and crouched down as his blood red eyes glowed. He emitted a low growl while the glow intensified; then suddenly, Mew's sapphire blue eyes snapped open. The bubble burst and the Legendary Pokémon tried to fly away, but it was forced back like its tail was tied to a rubber band.

I smirked. "No use running, little Mew. You'll have to face me whether you like it or not."

I ripped my two other occupied Pokéballs off my belt. I only ever carried three Pokémon around at a given time. I couldn't enter the league like that, sure, but I wasn't interested in it anyway. I was a collector, not a trainer.

"Go! Cleopatra and Wolverine!"

My Arbok and Sandslash materialized on the ground, both of them hissing at their opponent.

"All of you, attack!" I ordered my Pokémon. My violet cobra shot forward and sank her fangs into Mew's body. The Legendary fearfully sent a wave of psychic energy at Cleopatra so she was thrown backwards. Meanwhile, Wraith leapt at the Legendary Pokémon, baring his fangs.

Mew's eyes glowed an icy blue as a beam of ice crystals shot at my Umbreon. I watched the ice layer around him, freezing him in mid-air before he crashed into the Legendary Pokémon. Thrown onto the ground by the impact, Mew was vulnerable to attacks, so Wolverine was in a perfect situation to extend his long claws and brutally slash the Legendary. It let out a scream of pain, its eyes taking a deep green glow as it fired forth a flurry of razor-sharp leaves. They cut deep into Wolverine's skin; he whimpered and curled up into a spiky ball before I could warn him, and Mew blasted a tongue of silky flames at the pangolin, enveloping him and leaving him weak and burned. I took out his Pokéball and let the beam recall him.

Meanwhile, Wraith was standing up again. The heat from the fire attack had melted some of the ice covering him, and now he was breaking out of it. A crack was heard as the last ice shattered; then Wraith leapt at Mew again and this time successfully locked his jaws around the Legendary's threadlike tail. Mew started sparkling with electricity and then sent a bolt of lightning at Wraith, causing him to release its tail and squirm in pain.

"You can do it! Faint Attack!" I shouted encouragingly. "Cleopatra, Glare!"

My Umbreon started fading away as the violet snake's eyes started glowing bright yellow. Mew's body stiffened up, just before Wraith reappeared behind it and tackled it with full force. The Legendary managed with difficulty to produce a sparkling, silvery gust of wind which blasted at the Umbreon so that he collapsed, fainted. Just as I recalled Wraith back into his Pokéball, Mew also dropped weakly down to the ground. I could barely contain my excitement; I recalled Cleopatra and stared in anticipation at the the Legendary Pokémon that would soon be mine. I took out a Pokéball.

The pink creature bled in a few places. It had fought hard, but nothing was a match for my carefully trained Pokémon attacking all at once. Its attacks, though powerful, could not take them out until it was too late. The wound where Cleopatra had bit the Legendary had a slightly purple hue, indicating that the poisoning had been successful. Whether Mew had fainted from the venom seeping through its veins or from Wraith's Faint Attack, there was no way to know. It didn't matter either. Now all I had to do was capture it in a ball.

I stepped up to the unconscious creature and dropped the ball gently. With a triumphant smile, I watched it bounce off the Pokémon's body and land beside it, popping open.

But nothing happened. The ball rocked on the ground and then came to a halt, still open so that the metallic parts inside were visible. Mew still lay quite solid on the ground.

My heart pumping faster, I bent down and picked up my Pokéball. There had to be something wrong with it. I took out another and touched Mew carefully with it. When it had no effect, I looked fearfully at the limp body. A cold shiver ran down my spine; this couldn't be a coincidence.

I prodded the Pokémon harder, but no avail. I attached the ball to my belt again, and desperately felt Mew's soft, silky fur with my hand. The little body was warm, but as I waited, my greatest fear merely got confirmed.

Mew was dead.

The little heart didn't beat; the lungs didn't breathe. My mind screamed, but the scream was silenced by an array of mental images, each of which I subconsciously assigned to a meaning:

_You have done something unforgivable..._

I was at a loss for words. For a moment, I just stared blankly into the air; then I slowly took out Cleopatra's Pokéball and released my faithful snake again.

Had Mew suffered when the poison took its life?


End file.
